It's not the first time this sort of thing comes up. There was at least two other reserves of potential energy resources that no one in the general public really knows what to make of, as far as reports go. You've got big numbers like "enough energy locked up in em" to make the US independent from the ME, and you've got the other (scant) reports on how feasible extracting the energy is, what the cost/benefit is. Then there's the political aspect - the groups pulling the strings may want the oil biz to stay as it is to make their dough.